Is caffeine a health hazard? A former Colorado student finds out

Audio: Ryan Warner speaks with Caffeinated author Murray Carpenter

Journalist Murray Carpenter enjoys a cup of coffee and the caffeine buzz that goes with it.

(Photo: Courtesy of Bangor Daily News/Kathleen Pierce)

University of Colorado undergraduate student Murray Carpenter was a regular at coffee shops around Boulder, Colo., in the 1980s. The coffee he drank around Boulder got him to thinking about the effects of caffeine.

Carpenter wondered how caffeine worked and why people like it so much. Is it good or bad for you? Does it make you quicker, stronger and more responsive or does it spoil your sleep and make you jittery?

What began as a research paper for his senior year eventually turned into a full journalistic investigation that took Carpenter to tea shops in China, Colombian coffee plantations and Mexican cacao farms.

Carpenter’s new book "Caffeinated: How Our Daily Habit Helps, Hurts and Hooks Us" tries to answer some of these questions.

Caffeine's health effects

According to Carpenter, long-term studies have found no association between drinking caffeinated coffee and increased cardiovascular disease. He also notes that coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes and a lower risk of basal cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer.

Carpenter says, however, that caffeine can also bring on anxiety and even trigger panic attacks in some people.

“Most people understand that too much caffeine late in the day can affect sleep but researchers have also found that a moderate dose of caffeine in the morning can decrease sleep quality the following night,” Carpenter says. “Although it’s [caffeine] long been thought that high-altitude climbers and skiers should avoid caffeine, it seems to be safe and maybe even beneficial."

How much caffeine is in your cup?

Carpenter also examined how much caffeine is in some popular products and cautions that caffeine content in coffee and tea can vary tremendously depending on a variety of factors.

A Starbucks Grande, for example, ranged from 260 to 564 milligrams of caffeine while another analysis shows espresso ranging from 56 milligrams to 196 milligrams per ounce.